


...Use Whatever It Takes to Stay on Your Path

by dark__swan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 4x19, Canon Divergence, Captain Swan - Freeform, F/M, cs angst?, idk what to tag this, maybe?? - Freeform, really i have no fucking clue, savior queen?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 11:59:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3935962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dark__swan/pseuds/dark__swan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A slight canon divergence set in 4x19 (Lily), where Regina talks Emma down from her anger by reminding her of Killian and what he would tell her to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	...Use Whatever It Takes to Stay on Your Path

**Author's Note:**

> "When Emma was going to shoot Lily, could you change it up a bit and have Regina calm Emma down by telling her what would Hook say/tell you to do, or whatever you see appropriate? Just that remembering Killian's words when they said goodbye calm her?" - ahsagitarius (Tumblr)

   "YOU LAY A HAND ON THEM, I WILL END YOU!" Emma shouted, stepping forward and shoving Lily to the ground. The anger was building inside her and she couldn't hold it back for long. After years of wondering where Lily had ended up, she was glad she hadn't known. But everything she was being faced with now made her think hard - how could the scared little girl from her past turn into this vengeful, terrifying woman? She had every right to be upset, but the Lily she knew would have never considered something like this. The Lily she knew would never consider murder.

   "Emma, stop!" She heard Regina call out, but she ignored it. Regina didn't understand this. Regina didn't understand ANY of this. How could she? Up until last year, she had still tried to push Emma out of Henry's life. Had Regina even known what a friend WAS back in her childhood? Of course not. Regina was a villain. Just like Lily. Villains...

   "Yeah? And how ya gonna do that without your magic,  _savior_?" Lily stood with a crazed look in her eyes. Bracing herself for a fight, Emma didn't see the fist come at her, only noticing it when it collided with her cheek. Emma grunted at the force and moved back into a fighting position, wiping the drop of blood from where her lip had split.

   "Your parents were monsters, Emma. They banished me and threw you in a wardrobe." Lily wore a mask of bravery, but the look in her eyes was a look Emma knew all too well. Pain. She was hurt, just like when Mary Margaret and David revealed their secret. "And now here you are, ready to die for them, because you're so PERFECT. The  _savior_. Well they deserve to be punished. There's only one way to stop me, and you know it."

   Throwing herself at Emma, Lily reached for the blonde's throat. Taking a step back, Emma grabbed Lily by the arms and swung her around, throwing her onto the paved road again. As Lily made a move to stand again, Emma took the gun from her belt and cocked it, lining it up with the woman's forehead. Lily slowly rose to her knees, staring unafraid past the gun, her dark eyes meeting Emma's, which were rimmed with red.

   "Of course it ends this way. It just makes too much sense," Lily scoffed.

   "I'm just trying to stop you from doing something you regret," Emma said, trying to take deep breaths.

   "You can't. Thanks to you, I'm hardwired for bad decisions. So come on. Just put me out of my misery."

   The truth of Lily's words hit her, and the very real possibility of stopping whatever the other woman had planned started clouding her mind as Lily spoke again.

   "You know the truth. We both know my life isn't worth saving. And if you let me go, I will destroy EVERYTHING. It's what I do. So come on, be the hero, and end this right here, before it even starts."

   Emma held the gun steady. She could do this. She had to. If she didn't, her parents could die. Henry could die...hell, who KNOWS where Lily would stop. The entire town could be wiped out, and the rest of the world would be none the wiser.

   It was then that Regina knew she needed to intervene. Taking an experimental step forward, she held her hands to her sides to show she wasn't planning anything.

   "Come on, Emma," Lily said, holding her arms out as well. It was like she was taunting the blonde, trying to force her to embrace her dark side.

   "Swan...put the gun down."

   Regina's voice echoed through Emma's head, pulling her out of her daze.

   "She's right. If I did this-"

   "You would become the very thing Gold wants you to," Regina interrupted. "He knew this would happen. He knew Lily would bring you over the edge. Don't let him be right."

   "But-"

   "What would you do if your pirate was here?" Regina wasn't sure this would do anything, but she was running out of options. She had seen the way they acted around each other; it was the way her and Robin were. With an encouraging look, Regina took another step forward.

   "He - but if Lily walks free..." Emma said. The words obviously affected her and she was battling with herself. Would he understand? Of course. But he also knew how the darkness would tempt her...

   Just then, she remembered what he had told her before they said goodbye.

\---

**_"Vengeance is tempting. The darkness always is. Resist it."_ **

_"Why couldn't you?"_

**_"I didn't have anything to live for. You've your parents, Henry..."_ **

_"You."_

**_"Aye, me. And I you. That's what's kept me on my path now. Use whatever it takes to stay on yours."_ **

\---

   "Hook knows what it's like to give into the hate, doesn't he?" Regina asked, still moving closer. "He wouldn't want you to do this. I know you love him, Emma, whether or not your ready to admit it to him, to yourself even. But if you do this, there is no going back. Your heart will be blackened and there is no way to get rid of a dark heart. Not even your mother could, and she did one small thing, just like you, to protect Storybrooke, to protect the people she loves."

   Lily listened, doing her best to hide the fear. Would Emma really kill her? Is this how her life would end? The gun was still held tightly in the savior's hands, but her eyebrows were furrowed.

   "And Hook? Do you think he would want you to risk your life for him?"

   "I'm not risking my life."

   "If you kill her, all that darkness that she harbors? It'll become yours. Everything your parents did, everything Henry's done, everything Hook has done - it'll all be for nothing."

   Emma froze. Regina was right. Everyone had worked hard to make Emma the person she was today. The person who could trust, who could love...doing this, she'd be throwing it all away.

   She couldn't throw it away.

   Lowering the gun, Emma kept her eyes on the woman kneeling before her.

   "I'm sorry for what they did, Lily. But I won't kill you. You deserve happiness, and I think I know who can help."


End file.
